Jury selection to begin for Oklahoma beheading suspect

Published 10:44 am, Monday, September 11, 2017

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jury selection is scheduled to begin for an Oklahoma man accused of beheading a co-worker at a Moore food plant.

Jury selection begins Monday for 33-year-old Alton Nolen, who is charged with first-degree murder in the September 2014 beheading of 54-year-old Colleen Hufford at Vaughan Foods in Moore. Nolen is also charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon for allegedly attempting to behead a second co-worker. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Defense attorneys have said they will use an insanity defense during Nolen's trial. Attorneys claim that Nolen is mentally ill and didn't know his actions were wrong.

Nolen has repeatedly tried to plead guilty in the case and has asked to be executed. But Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley has declined to accept his plea.